CATALYST ☆ b.katsuki

·.·★ twenty five ★·.·

"You need to talk about what happened."

Noa's teeth clench and she looks down at her fingers, picking at a scab.

"Keeping it all bottled up is only gonna make it worse. Especially as a hero, a lot of bad shit goes down and it's healthy to tell someone about it."

Miruko's gaze from across the table is unwavering. "And take a bite. Eat something for Christ's sake."

Noa lets her head fall back against the chair with a loud groan.

"I did talk about it."

The woman crosses her arm, arching an eyebrow. Noa throws her arms up defensively.

"What? I heard Iida was in trouble, so I went to help him. Then Izuku sent his location, and Shoto found me, and then we ran into Stain. He was trying to kill them, so we took him down. The hero's came, the Nomu came, and Stain saved us. He almost died, and then he ended up in jail. The end."

Miruko takes a deep, measured breath. "How you feel about it, not the sequence of events. When bad things happen -and believe me, they will happen- it's important to make sure you process them correctly. Get the help you need in order to keep doing your job."

Noa stares at her, blinking slowly.

"Take a damn bite."

She crosses her arms. "Talking about feelings is for the weak and traumatized. I am neither, so no."

Miruko just snaps her fingers and points at the bowl, and Noa rolls her eyes before shoving a bite of rice in her mouth. She also tells herself that she's an amazing liar.

"I'm just saying, I'm fine." Her words are barely intelligible with her mouth so full. "I don't need to talk about it."

"Finish chewing, please." Miruko groans, then sets her chopsticks down and leans her forearms on the table. "It doesn't have to be me, but please, just call someone. Or something."

Noa follows her actions, looking just as serious. "I had enough emotional blabber from the three idiot musketeers at the hospital. I'm. Am. Fine."

Reaching across the table, she snatches Noa's phone and leans away, tapping at the screen. Noa tries grabbing for it, but its no use.

"Oh, come on. Give my phone back, you child. This is an invasion of my privacy."

Miruko laughs mischievously as she presses more buttons. "I'm older than you are, short stuff. Even if you sometimes speak like you're from the Stone Age. Now go to your room."

She slides the phone back across the table, contacts lists open.

"Call somebody, talk about it. Hero's orders."

Noa rolls her eyes and snatches it off the table, waking out. "Cornball."

"This is ridiculous." She mutters after shutting her phone off and throwing it on her bed. Following it, she plops down and sinks into the mattress with a long sigh.

How did she still end up underestimating him?

She tried so hard not to, to make sure she knew Stain's strength, the skill and tenacity that stopped some of the best heroes in their tracks, but it wasn't enough. Yeah, her and the others stopped him, but in the end he was the one who got the last word.

After saving her and Izuku from the nomu, he gave the most terrifying speech she'd ever witnessed, surpassing any expectations there could've been.

And then he died.